St. Patricks Day

Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit. 'the Day of the Festival of Patrick'), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. 385 – c. 461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.

Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland),^[7] the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and, by extension, celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general.^[5][8] Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks.^[9] Christians who belong to liturgical denominations also attend church services.^[8][10] Historically, the Lenten restrictions on fasting and drinking alcohol were lifted for the day, which has encouraged the holiday's tradition of revelry.^{[8][9][11][12]}

Saint Patrick's Day is the national holiday of the Republic of Ireland^[13] and Northern Ireland,^[14] and also a public holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador (for provincial government employees) and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated in places with a large Irish diaspora community, such as Great Britain,^[15] Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.^[16] Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival.^[17] Modern celebrations have been greatly influenced by those of the Irish diaspora, particularly those that developed in North America. However, there has been criticism of Saint Patrick's Day celebrations for having become too commercialised and for fostering negative stereotypes of the Irish people.^[18]

Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Much of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the Declaration, which was allegedly written by Patrick himself. It is believed that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a Christian deacon and his grandfather a priest. According to the Declaration, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland.^[19] It says that he spent six years there working as a shepherd and that during this time he found God. The Declaration says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, where a ship would be waiting to take him home. After making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest.^[20]

According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity. The Declaration says that he spent many years evangelising in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands.

Tradition holds that he died on 17 March and was buried at Downpatrick. Over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Ireland's foremost saint.